Great Things Are Happening in Brooklyn

8th Season Opening

For updated information go to www.ahmedian.com or www.sistasplace.org

Tune in Thursdays, 2pm for

Perspective with Louis Reyes Rivera on WBAI (99.5 fm) or www.wbai.org

Sista's Place 

Great Things Happenin'

September 2007

Edited by Louis Reyes Rivera

Askia Muhammad Touré

in New York and at Sistas' Place

Askia Muhammad Touré in New York and at Sistas' Place: From Monday, September 18th thru Sunday, September 23, 2007 Askia Muhammad Touré will be in New York and Newark, celebrating the recent publication of two collections of poetry: Mother Earth Responds: Green Poems and Alternative Visions (Whirlwind Press), and African Affirmations: Songs for Patriots (Africa World Press). 

During his visit to New York, he'll be booksigning at several hotspots -- The Bowery Poetry Club in lower Manhattan, St. Nick's Pub in Harlem, at the Upsouth Bookfair at City College, Sister Ndigo's, among others.

On Friday, September 21, at 7pm, Sistas' Place (456 Nostrand Ave., Brooklyn) will host a special booksigning and discussion session between Askia Muhammad Touré and fellow poet Louis Reyes Rivera. This event is free and open to the public and is part of the opening of the 12th year since Sistas' Place opened its doors as a cultural haven. Copies of both books will be available for sale.

Right alongside Amiri Baraka, Larry Neal, Sonia Sanchez, Audre Lorde, June Jordan, etc., Askia Muhammad Touré is considered one of the principal architects of the 1960s Black Arts/Black Aesthetic movements. A member of the legendary Umbra Group and of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Touré has remained an activist poet of conscience throughout his years. His other books include Earth (1968), JuJu: Magic songs for the Black Nation (with playwright Ben Caldwell / 1970), Songhai! (1972), and From the Pyramids to the Projects (1990), which won an American Book Award. Widely published in Black Scholar, Soulbook, Black Theatre, Black World, and Freedomways, his poems and essays have embodied the ideology of a people seeking to reclaim their images and history.

Contacting Louis Reyes Rivera

If you're interested in booking Louis Reyes Rivera for readings, lectures, performances with bands, etc., email Louisreyesrivera@aol.com or write to Shamal Books, GPO Box 16, New York City 10116 (or call 718.622.4426).

Copies of Louis Reyes Rivera's award-winning collection, Scattered Scripture, are still available. For other information, blogs, et al, go to " www.myspace.com/Louisreyesrivera  " and log in.

For other information, blogs, et al, go to www.myspace.com/Louisreyesrivera  and log in.

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Scholarship Opportunities

* Bell Labs Fellowships for Under-Represented Minorities: bell-labs.com/fellowships/CRFP/info.html

* Student Inventors Scholarships: invent.org/collegiate  

* Student Video Scholarships: christophers.org/vidcon2k.html

* Coca-Cola Two Year College Scholarships: coca-colascholars.org/programs.html 

* Holocaust Remembrance Scholarships: holocaust.hklaw.com/

* Ayn Rand Essay Scholarships: aynrand.org/contests/

* Brand Essay Competition: instituteforbrandleadership.org/IBLEssayContest-2002Rules.htm

* Gates Millennlum Scholarships (major): gmsp.org/nominationmaterials/read.dbm?ID=12

* Xerox Scholarships for Students: 2xerox.com/go/xrx/

* Sports Scholarships and Internships: ncaa.org/about/scholarships.html

* National Assoc. of Black Journalists Scholarships (NABJ): nabj.org/html/studentsvcs.html

* Saul T. Wilson Scholarships (Veterinary): aphis.usda.gov/mb/mrphr/jobs/stw.html

* Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund: thurgoodmarshallfund.org/sk_v6.cfm

* Financial Aid: the Smart Students Guide to Financial Aid scholarships:   finaid.org/

* Presidential Freedom Scholarships: nationalservice.org/scholarships/

* Microsoft Scholarship Program: microsoft.com/college/scholarships/minority.asp

* Wired Scholar Free Scholarship Search: wiredscholar.com/paying/scholarship_search/pay_scholarship%20_search.jsp

* Hope Scholarships & Lifetime Credits: ed.gov/inits/hope/

* William Randolph Hearst Endowed Scholarship for Minority Students: apsanet.org/PS/grants/aspen3.cfm

* Multiple List of Minority Scholarships: gehon.ir.miami.edu/financial-assistance/Scholarship/black.html

* Guaranteed Scholarships: guaranteed-scholarships.com/

* BOEING Scholarships (some HBCU connects): boeing.com/companyoffices/educationrelations/scholarships

* Easley National Scholarship Program: naas.org/senior.htm

* Maryland Artists Scholarships: maef.org/

* Historically Black College & University Scholarships: iesabroad.org/info/hbcu.htm

* Actuarial Scholarships for Minority Students: beanactuary.org/minority/scholarships.htm

* International Students Scholarships & Aid Help: iefa.org/

* College Board Scholarship Search: cbweb10pcollegeboard.org/fundfinder/html/fundfind01.html

* Burger King Scholarship Program: bkscholars.csfa.org/

* Siemens Westinghouse Competition: siemens-foundationorg/

* GE and LuLac Scholarship Funds: lulac.org/Programs/Scholar.html

CollegeNet's Scholarship Database: mach25.collegenet.com/cgi-bin/M25/index

* Union Sponsored Scholarships and Aid: aflcioorg/scholarships/scholar.htm

* Scholarship & Financial Aid Help: blackexcel.org/fin-sch.htm / blackexcel.org/25scholarships.htm

*Scholarship Links (Ed Finance Group): efg.net/link_scholarship.htm

* FAFSA On The Web (Your Key Aid Form & Info): fafsaed.gov/

* Aid &Resources For Re-Entry Students: back2college.com/

* Scholarships and Fellowships: osc.cuny.edu/sep/link%20s.html

* Scholarships for Study in Paralegal Studies: paralegals.org/Choice/2000west.htm

* HBCU Packard Sit Abroad Scholarships (for study around the world) sit.edu/studyabroad/packard_nomination.html

* Scholarship and Fellowship Opportunities: ccmi.uchicago.edu/schl1.html

* INROADS Internships: inroads.org/

* NAACP/ ACT-SO Scholarships: naacp.org/work/actso/act-so.shtml

* Black Alliance for Educational Options Scholarships:   baeo.org/options/privatelyfinanced.jsp

* ScienceNet Scholarship Listing:   sciencenet.emory.edu/undergrad/scholarships.html

* Graduate Fellowships For Minorities Nationwide:   cuinfo.cornell.edu/Student/GRFN/list.phtml?category=MINORITIES

* RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS AT OXFORD: rhodesscholar.org/info.html

* The Roothbert Scholarship Fund: roothbertfund.org/schol

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They Stole Us. They Sold Us. They Owe Us! -- Reparations Concert 

Louis Reyes Rivera and The Jazzoets setting poetry to music in honor of the Reparations Movement and to help raise funds for the upcoming Black Belt South Long March scheduled for this coming July.

"Both nationally and internationally," says Viola Plummer, "we continue to mobilize on behalf of Reparations."

A broad coalition of groups throughout the U.S., explained Ms. Plummer, had been instrumental in helping to bring this issue before the UN World Conference Against Racism, in Durban, South Africa, three years ago. Among the results of that conference was the universal passage of a resolution that declared slavery, colonialism and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade as crimes against humanity, "and therefore," she adds, "are subject to Reparations. But please understand. This is not about somebody getting a check in the mail. Reparations means to say, first and foremost, that a wrong had been committed, that it must be acknowledged, and that the devastation caused by that wrong must be addressed."

Since the Durban conference, similar movements have been initiated by activists in Barbados, Jamaica, Haiti, South Africa, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Australia and elsewhere. Here, in the United States, a follow-up National Rally for Reparations was held in Washington DC in August 2002, and in an International Rally in front of the United Nations in September 2003. 

The upcoming 2004 Long March through the Black Belt South, which will be kicking off on Saturday, July 24, with a national rally in Columbia, South Carolina, is the latest effort by a broad coalition of more than thirty activist, civic and religious organizations to explain the issues involved and to generate support for what has become an ever-growing grassroots movement.  

"We all need to dialogue around the importance of this march, and to update our brothers and sisters on the Reparations Movement. But equally important is this opportunity to once again demonstrate why we, at Sistas' Place, believe that culture is a weapon. Louis Reyes Rivera and The Jazzoets are a fine example of how culture and the social struggle come together, and they do it in a most beautiful way. If you've never heard Louis' poem on reparations, you need to. If you've never seen his band perform, you really ought to."

updated 6 October 2007